Dandelion Sniffles
by bowtiesarecoollike
Summary: Cute one shot of Peeta, Katniss and their daughter! Same universe/sorta sequel to my other story The Wilted Dandelion.


"Momma when's daddy getting up?" 4 year old Ava Mellark asked pulling on her mothers pants. Katniss sighed and pulled her daughter up to rest on her hip.

"He has slept in this morning hasn't he? Shall we go wake him up?" Katniss asked and Ava giggled, nodding her head. Katniss put down the eggs she was about to make breakfast with and shuffled in to the master bedroom of her cottage with her daughter.

The door opened with a creek, and Ava scrambled out of her mothers arms and jumped on the bed.

"Daddy! Daddy! Time to wake up please!"

"Hmmm." Peeta grumbled and pulled Ava close like a teddy bear. She shrieked happily.

"Momma's making eggs and toast daddy! Why are you still in bed?" Ava asked, trying to roll off. Peeta kept pulling her closer, until she wriggled out of his arms and jumped off the bed, still giggling.

Peeta opened his eyes with a lazy smile and Katniss sat on the bed.

"Morning." He said, then grimaced at his voice. It sounded croaky and congested. Katniss' eyebrows came together and she put her hand across Peeta's forehead. Hot.

"You're sick." Katniss stated matter of factly.

"I'm fine," He replied clearing his throat and sitting up on the bed, "it's just a bit stuffy in here. Did you say something about breakfast?" He asked, running a hand through his bed head.

"More like lunch actually, it's 12:00. You're usually up at the crack of dawn, you sure you're feeling ok?"

"I was up late finishing Avaneire's birthday present, I'm just a bit tired." he shrugged it off, kissing his wife on the forehead and getting up off the bed.

"Birfday present? I wanna see! Wanna see, wanna see!" Ava began to chant and Peeta scooped her up over his shoulder.

"Nuh-uh little monkey, not for another two days." Peeta's laughs were cut short when Ava began to make shrieking monkey noises that sounded all too familiar. Katniss and Peeta turned pale as their mind wondered to the second games. The heat. The fog. The monkeys. The beach. The screams. The blood.

And then a cry.

Katniss snapped out of her trance to see her daughter whimpering in fear at her frozen father.

"Peeta?" Katniss said carefully. "You're here. In our house. Look at me, don't lose yourself. You're scaring Ava." Peeta's eyes became more focused and he saw the frightened face of his daughter in his arms.

"Ava I'm so sorry, baby." Peeta pulled his daughter close and let out a shaky breath. He exchanged a wary glance with Katniss as she exited the room, glad that they had avoided another of Peeta's episodes that had become few and far between since the birth of little Avaneire Mellark.

Twenty-two. That's how many times Peeta had sneezed in the past two hours. Ava had made a show of illustrating her new counting skills to her parents which led to her daddy getting sent straight to bed by her mommy as soon as they got home.

After their breakfast/lunch, the little family visited the local Sunday markets that especially enticed Ava who couldn't take her eyes over the glittering gems on the handmade jewellery and the crisp purple ribbons at the craft stall.

"Daddy sick mommy?" Ava asked, concerned.

"He's just a bit sniffly sweetie. Be a good girl and go get him the tissues from the bathroom." Ava nodded and skipped away, whilst Katniss brought him a hot water bottle.

"I hate feeling sick." Peeta grumbled, sniffing through his red nose.

"I think you've said that before."

"When?"

"Last time you were sick." Katniss smirked and Peeta chuckled. Suddenly a giant pile of tissues walked in, with Ava underneath.

"What are you doing Ave?!" Katniss said, bewildered.

"You told be to bring daddy tissues.."

"Did you take them all out of the box one by one?"

"Yes..." Ava looked innocently at her parents.

"Why? You know you could have just brought the box sweetie."

"Oh..." Katniss and Peeta broke in to giggles and ushered their daughter between them on the bed, kicking away the tissues that were now strewn across the room. Suddenly Peeta sneezed and both Ava and Katniss threw several tissues at him at once, setting the whole family off in to a long fit of giggles that would last well in to the night.


End file.
